Fluffy Butt Acres: Stories of our flock

[Ponypoor]

Sophia and Blanche again on the door, can't wait to get that door on a sliding track

 

[BY Bob]

Twiggy and George are 6 weeks old today. I brought Twiggy in to get some pictures.
Rosie claims that when Twig stands upright she/he looks like a emu. Twig also has one stray feather coming in that is giving off the impression of a tiny mowhawk.
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She is adorable.

 

[BY Bob]

I realize now, that it’s just impossible to get a nap while I have a rooster on my lap. Just impossible!

Why would you want to?

 

[featherhead007]

Ok drive safe!

How's xzit?

Xzit and Dakota are inside with me. The rest of the chooks are laying around (like a boneless chicken ranch) because it’s 92f outside.

 

[featherhead007]

Why would you want to?

I needed a nap (no sleep last night) and I needed Jaffar with me. Because he’s such a good rooster buddy!

 

[BY Bob]

My cousin asked me to take her three hens for the winter (that's actually code for 'please take my hens forever') she moved way up north and was worried about bears and lynx killing them (of course I knew they would stay once they got integrated with my gals).

About a month after they arrived Sophia became very ill, I was freaking out thinking I was somehow killing her beloved hen. I had my vet check for coccidiosis and worms, nothing.

The only thing was that she was going through a heavy molt, the vet suggested she was stressed from the move and the molt.

She wouldn't eat but drank lots of water making her stools pure water. In desperation someone here on BYC (that's how I first met everyone here ) suggested giving he scrambled eggs, which I did every day for a couple of weeks along with soupy layer mash and sugar water.

She finally turned around and slowly started eating again, but it took about 6 weeks for her to get back to normal, and get her splendid feathers back.

Of course this happened in the Fall when it cold at night so I would put the radiant heater for her, when she hardly had feathers.

Now I am more wiser and experienced - next time I will start the scrambled eggs and supportive care sooner...

Who knew chickens would be so stressful!!
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She's a beauty! I'm glad you helped her through it.

 

[BY Bob]

BoPeeps in daddy’s chair. Jaffar has roughed her up a bit.View attachment 3177627

Poor lady. Roosters should be more considerate.

 

[featherhead007]

Poor lady. Roosters should be more considerate.

Ya think ?

 

[RoyalChick]

For all you Goths out there an update on Bella Dracula.

It was a high drama vet visit with no ultimate conclusion. Here is how it played out.

I show up to the vet and am explaining everything I have observed (I previously sent the vet videos of Bella's strange breathing). I just got to the point where I am explaining that it is getting neither better nor worse each day, when Bella stops even trying to stand and then she can't hold her head up. So definitely worse.
Then she closes her eyes and loses all muscle tone.
The vet and I jump to the same conclusion - heat stroke. The vet gets me water which I put in Bella's mouth drop at a time (she dutifully swallows each drop without opening her eyes), the vet tech grabs a portable A/C machine to get the room cooler.
And slowly Bella comes around.
The vet tech even managed to get her to eat some of the mash I brought by feeding it to her with a spoon (seems Bella prefers to be spoon fed than eat directly from the bowl).
I think she must have over-heated in the car - I had her in the back and maybe the A/C doesn't reach there? Or maybe the A/C isn't working so well because I confess I was pretty hot too.
If I had remembered it was Thursday I would have got the vet tech to take a picture of me dropper feeding Bella water!
Anyway, drama over, but the mystery illness is still a mystery. The vet is consulting others and will get back to me.
It was good to have a professional confirm that there are no abnormal chest/lung/upper respiratory sounds, that her mouth, throat and nares all look clear, that she doesn't have parasites on her skin and her vent looks healthy.
So there is really no hint as to what is going wrong.
The vet confirmed that her action is indeed gaping (as in gape worm) but agreed we shouldn't jump to that conclusion as it is very rare. She agreed it is far from typical for mycoplasma, but on the other hand that is very common.
She asked that I continue supportive care while she consults. That means getting calories into her however I can (I have discovered that Bella loves scratch grain, yellow melons and red peppers), and keeping her hyrdated.
It will be hot tomorrow so I think I will bring Bella into the house for her meals so she can get a break from the heat. I don't want to move her in entirely because she is very bonded to Bernadette and Lulu and I think it would be stressful to separate them for any length of time.

I am emotionally drained now and ready to roost!

 

[Ponypoor]

Xzit and Dakota are inside with me. The rest of the chooks are laying around (like a boneless chicken ranch) because it’s 92f outside.

Oh dear - sorry to hear it's so darn hot.